10 Books For Fairytale Fans

Y’all, I feel like such a CHEATER, because this week’s topic is Top Ten Readalikes, and hah, I chose like the easiest book EVER to find readalikes, Grimm’s Fairy Tales, because we all know that fairy tale retellings are the coolest.

Top Ten Tuesday is hosted by The Broke And Bookish.

Top 10 Grimm Brothers Fairy Tale Retellings

1. Cloaked by Alex Flinn

Cloaked, Alex Flinn, Book Cover, Book Review

Cloaked

Why:Cloaked is a quick and charming modern day setting book that retells the Frog Prince as well as the Elves and the Shoemaker. Also, the humor in it is quite fun!

2. Cinder by Marissa Meyer

Cinder, Marissa Meyer, Book Cover

Cinder

Why: There are probably hundreds of Cinderella retellings out there. Personally, I feel Cinder by Marissa Meyer is one of the best, from a feisty main character who has some agency and actually does things to a swoonworthy love interest, of all the Cinderella retellings, I think Cinder is one that is well worth reading.

3. Daughter Of The Forest by Juliet Marillier

Daughter Of The Forest, Juliet Marillier, Book Cover

Daughter Of The Forest

Why?: Hands down, Daughter Of The Forest by Juliet Marillier is my favorite fairytale retelling ever. It sets The Six Swans in medieval Ireland, so it’s very Celtic and deals also with Paganism giving way to Christianity and is such a tour de force when it comes to characterization. And then there is Sorcha who I kind of want to be when I grow up. I just love this book and this retelling and highly recommend it.

4. Spindle’s End by Robin McKinley

Spindle's End Robin Mckinley Book Cover

Spindle’s End

Why?: Y’all this is the first Robin McKinley book I ever read and it was love at first word. Basically, Spindle’s End retells Briar Rose, but again, the lead character is no simpering twit, but a fierce lady. It’s been ten years at least, since I’ve read Spindle’s End but I do want to re-read it again.

5. The Goose Girl by Shannon Hale

The Goose Girl Shannon Hale Book Cover

The Goose Girl

Why?: You know, when I read a fairy tale, I want a sense of the magical, of the fantastic. The Goose Girl by Shannon Hale totally delivers this in spades.

6. Entwined by Heather Dixon

Entwined, Heather Dixon, Book Cover

Entwined

Why?: I just love the story of the Twelve Dancing Princesses, and Entwined is such a sweet retelling that deserves a lot more attention than it got. Further, I really hope we get more books from Heather Dixon because her writing is wonderful and it actually made dance interesting for me, and you guys typically I find dance to be the most boring thing EVER.

7. Wildwood Dancing by Juliet Marillier

Wildwood Dancing Juliet Marillier Book Cover

Wildwood Dancing

Why?: Okay look, if I could put all of the Marillier books I’ve read on this list, I totally WOULD.  Alas, not all fit the qualifications. Basically Wildwood Dancing is another retelling of the Twelve Dancing Princesses, but it also has The Frog Prince and it is a heaping pile of awesome.

8. The Hero’s Guide To Saving Your Kingdom by Christopher Healy

The Hero's Guide To Saving Your Kingdom Christopher Healy Book Cover

The Hero’s Guide To Saving Your Kingdom

Why?: The Hero’s Guide To Saving Your Kingdom is a hilarious book that takes on the fairy tales from the Prince Charming point of views. It’s middle grade of the best possible sort and yeah, you all should totally check it out.

9. A Tale Dark And Grimm by Adam Gidwitz

A Tale Dark And Grimm, Adam Gidwitz, Book Cover, Blue

A Tale Dark And Grimm

Why?: Y’all, in keeping with the middle grade here, A Tale Dark And Grimm takes on Hansel and Gretel and is funny and creepy and utterly engrossing with a narrator who talks to the reader, I loved it.

10. The Book Of Lost Things by John Connolly

The Book Of Lost Things John Connolly Book Cover

The Book Of Lost Things

Why?: So, The Book Of Lost Things is totally an adult book and pretty much this kid reads this book and experiences fairy tales for real, only the fairy tales are scary and not anything like the Disney version. It’s totally a great book.

Please note, this is by no means an exhaustive list and some obvious books like Ella Enchanted are missing because I have not read them yet. What are your readalike  suggestions for fans of The Brothers Grimm?

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April is in her 30s and created Good Books And Good Wine. She works for a non-profit. April always has a book on hand. In her free time she can be found binge watching The Office with her husband and toddler, spending way too much time on Pinterest or exploring her neighborhood.
About April (Books&Wine)

April is in her 30s and created Good Books And Good Wine. She works for a non-profit. April always has a book on hand. In her free time she can be found binge watching The Office with her husband and toddler, spending way too much time on Pinterest or exploring her neighborhood.

Comments

  1. Awesome list! I have read some of these and loved them, others I neeeeeed to read now!

  2. Ah, April! You NEED to read Ella Enchanted! I also just read Fairest, also by Gail Carson Levine, which isn’t as good as Ella but still a remarkably original and fresh retelling of Snow White.

  3. I feel like I’m the only person who didn’t like CINDER. Hmm.

  4. Yay! I love fairy tales! And retelling them = made of awesome sauce. I seriously will never tire of this.

    I am a person that needs to read some Juliet Marillier right the hell now. *glares at review pile* Okay, I need to read her in like 3 months.

  5. I had a hard time with this week’s TTT so I skipped it. I’m loving fairy tales right now and there’s a few on your list I haven’t read.

  6. I felt like a fantasy failure when I read Anna’s post today and now I feel like a fairytale failure. For reals, yo. I haven’t read a single one of these. I do own Cinder, but it’s not been devoured yet. I know, I know – my reading seems very meager and pathetic right now. 🙁

  7. You just added, like, three books to my shopping cart!
    I love fairy tale re-tellings and I have read a few of these actually.

    I LOVE Daughter of the Forest (even if the following books disappointed me a lot – Red disappointed me a lot in the second book). And Cinder was a very interesting read.

  8. I am absolutely LOVING this TTT list. Awesome suggestions!

  9. Augh! I love love love this list! I need to keep it in mind when I get ready to write some more of my Fairy Tale posts! You, lady, are my favorite today! 🙂

  10. Of these, I’ve only read read CLOAKED and ENTWINED, but the rest are on my TBR pile. Man, I have got to catch up! Thanks for the suggestions 🙂

  11. I did the same topic (just with a different book)! Love your list! Daughter of the Forest is one of my all time favorite books EVER. I’ve read the majority of the books on this list and loved them all. Fairy tales are the best things ever!

  12. Ohhhh I’ve been looking forward to reading Entwined FOREVER!! I have a copy sitting on my shelf and it’s been calling to me.. I needs to read it!!!! Great list, I love fairy tale retellings 😀

    Anna @ Literary Exploration

  13. This is a wonderful list! I also like The Grimm Legacy, a middle grade novel by Polly Shulman.

  14. Ha, I’ve only read one book for you list (The Goose Girl) but they all look super good! Plus, I love fairy tale re-tellings!

    ~Kailia @ Reading the Best of the Best

  15. So glad to see Wildwood Dancing on there! It is my FAVORITE book! I love it so so so much! 🙂

  16. *Sigh* I have several of these on my ever-growing TBR shelf. Maybe I’ll get on a fairy tale kick one day and read them all!

  17. Great list! I love Cinder! I also made a list about fairytales/fairytales retelling.

    Top Ten Tuesday

    Lisa @ Shatterbooks

  18. You put one of my favorites on here. The Book of Lost Things is so good. I really wish he would write more in this vein.

  19. So, fairy tell retellings? Pretty much my FAVORITE. I’ve never even heard of Cloaked before but Marillier is my FAVORITE author ever and I LOVED A Tale Dark and Grimm. I had no idea The Book of Lost Things was Grimm tales but scary. That is amazing, I might need to push that one to the top of my TBR. Also side note regarding Marillier & retellings. Have you read Heart’s Blood? It’s AMAZING and a loose retelling of Beauty and the Beast!!

  20. I recently got a different YA retelling of the Twelve Dancing Princesses (a fairytale I’ve never actually come across, can you believe!), called Princess of the Midnight Ball – do you know it? A friend recommended it. I’ll try that one and if I like it I’ll give Entwined a go too. I generally love fairy tale retellings. I recently read Heart’s Blood by Juliet Marillier, a retelling of Beauty and the Beast set in 12th century Ireland, it was very good.

    Would love to read A Tale Dark and Grimm! I always loved how scary Hansel and Gretel was, as a story. Used to really scare me, as a kid. 🙂

  21. Great picks! The Book of Lost Things and A Tale Dark and Grimm are both AWESOME! I’ve had Cinder on my reading list for a while, as well as Entwined!

    I’ve only read one Alex Flinn book, Beastly, but it was really good — I’ll definitely have to check out Cloaked!

    Great list! 🙂

  22. Yeah! Love Fairy Tales! Have you read Enchanted yet? It’s kind of fairy tales on speed.

  23. This is the BEST. Fairy tale retellings are pretty much insta-reads for me. The Goose Girl? ADORE it. And Cinder was so freaking good! I can’t lie: I’ve been a little jealous of the Scarlet ARCs that are floating around. I’m so excited to read more of that world. And Daughter of the Forest sounds so much up my alley, and I know you’ve recommended it to me before. I need to read it.
    Robin McKinley, though. THIS is an author that I’ve been wanting to read FOREVER. Forever. I have Beauty, which I want to read, and Spindle’s End sounds SUPER. Same with her Robin Hood books. SIGH. But YES to all of these.

  24. I love this list so much! I haven’t heard of Wildwood Dancing before but it sounds really interesting. I even e-mailed my friend about it because The Twelve Dancing Princesses is her favourite book. I have a copy of The Book of Lost Things that I need to read, thanks for reminding me!

  25. Huge fairy tale fan and I think your list is great! The only one I’m not familiar with is The Book of Lost Things, which I’ve now added to my tbr-pile. One rec I have is Mercedes Lackey’s Elemental Masters stories-there’s my favorite Phoenix and Ashes (inspired by Cinderella) as well as ones for Snow White, Sleeping Beauty, Donkeyskin and a couple others.

  26. Daughter of the Forest is my favorite Juliet Marillier book and I’m glad to see it on your list. Wildwood Dancing was pretty good too. I also loved Cinder. I haven’t read Cloaked yet though I did enjoy Beastly. I just recently read The Hero’s Guide to Saving Your Kingdom and it was a lot of fun. Great list!

    If you haven’t tried them yet, I’d suggest Zoe Marriott’s Shadows on the Moon (Cinderella retelling) and The Swan Kingdom (though it is not as good as Daughter of the Forest) for YA fiction and Mercedes Lackey’s Tales of the 500 Kingdoms series for adults.

  27. I love retellings and I haven’t read any of these! I need to fix that. I’ve had Daughter of the Forest on my TBR for awhile and I love Robin McKinley’s books but I haven’t read Spindle’s End yet. Fabulous list!

  28. Fabulous list. I haven’t read most of these, but they all sound great. Although it isn’t a Grimm fairy tale, I really loved Robin McKinley’s retelling of Beauty and the Beast when I was young. Amazing how good these stories can be, even though you’ve heard them a hundred times.

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